Turkey Adopts New Law to Police Dissent on the Web

By David Gauthier-Villars 

ISTANBUL -- Turkey's parliament has approved new laws on social media that give the government more power to police content on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other networks, sending a chill through the country's human-rights activists.

Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, the legislation provides authorities with significant ammunition against their critics. Under the new measures, social media companies will be required to have a permanent representative in Turkey, take steps to store Turkish users' data in the country, and execute court orders to take down content.

Failure to comply will expose operators to a five-step regime of sanctions ranging from fines to being stripped of advertising revenue and being subjected to near-complete access restrictions. It isn't yet clear when the new measures take effect.

The scope of the legislation, passed Wednesday after a marathon 16-hour session, has alarmed opposition leaders and free-speech advocates. They say social media has become one of the last few spaces to express dissent after tycoons loyal to Mr. Erdogan acquired television channels and national newspapers following a failed coup attempt in 2016. Dozens of other outlets were closed amid accusations they supported the plotters.

As critical voices migrated to social media, building a significant audience, especially among youth, the government also cracked down on dissent over the internet and social networks.

"Social media is a lifeline for many people who use it to access news, so this law signals a new dark era of online censorship," Tom Porteous, a director with Human Rights Watch, said.

The law was adopted less than a month after Mr. Erdogan complained that some people had posted insults under a social media announcement of the birth of his eighth grandchild, and vowed more government powers to regulate the internet.

"Do you understand what it means, why we are against YouTube, Twitter, Netflix and all those social media sites," Mr. Erdogan said in a speech on July 1. "Turkey is not a banana republic. We will spurn those who spurn the administrative and judicial institutions of this country."

Twitter Inc.'s reaction will be closely watched. The platform recently clashed with the Turkish government, saying in June that it had permanently deleted more than 7,000 "fake and compromised" accounts it alleged had been used as part of a centrally-coordinated effort to "amplify political narratives favorable to the AKP."

The Turkish presidency, which makes extensive use of Twitter to release announcements, said the allegations were untrue. "This arbitrary act, hidden behind the smokescreen of transparency and freedom of expression, has demonstrated yet again that Twitter is no mere social media company, but a propaganda machine with certain political and ideological inclinations," Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Twitter said the company had no immediate comment on the new law. Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, which operates the YouTube broadcast service, didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Over 400,000 internet sites are blocked in Turkey, including many news portals, and thousands of people are being prosecuted over their social media posts, according to Yaman Akdeniz, a professor at the Bilgi University and an internet rights expert. According to data he has compiled, more than 90,000 investigations and nearly 20,000 prosecutions have been launched in recent years over alleged insults against Mr. Erdogan in his capacity as president.

"There was already extensive internet censorship in Turkey, even before we began talking about the new law," Mr. Akdeniz said. "So the situation was already bad and we're moving from bad to worse."

Adoption of the new law coincides with a drop in support for the AKP, as Mr. Erdogan's ruling party is known in Turkish. Recent surveys suggest it would garner about 30% of the votes if legislative elections were called early, compared with 43% in the July 2018 vote. Pollsters have said the surveys also point to a growing disconnect between the party and the aspirations of younger Turks.

Opposition politicians condemned the new measures, saying it would limit freedom of expression. "You can't use social networks when it serves you and appeal to prohibition when you receive dislikes," Engin Ozkoc, a lawmaker with the Republican People's Party, said during parliamentary debates.

Atilla Yesilada, an economist who no longer appears on mainstream media in Turkey but broadcasts his critical views of the government on a YouTube channel, a Twitter account and a website, said the new attempt to control speech in the internet space would fail.

"It is going to backfire," said Mr. Yesilada, an emerging market consultant for GlobalSource Partners, a research and analysis group. "People like social media and think it's the most-trusted news source. If you try to shut it down, there will be a protest vote."

Write to David Gauthier-Villars at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2020 11:01 ET (15:01 GMT)

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